Joker, a Todd Phillips film very, very loosely based on a handful of pages from Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, broke the mold for modern comics-to-film adaptations by radically reinterpreting popular characters and abandoning the superhero genre altogether. It was an exciting idea in theory, a test of the filmgoing audience’s willingness to take a chance on something new so long as it’s dressed up as something familiar. A very successful test, indeed, earning 11 Oscar nominations and $1 billion in worldwide box office. However, Joker wasn’t anything new—it was a transparent and vastly inferior riff on Taxi Driver that, like its inspiration, disproportionately appealed to white male edgelords who over-identify with its antihero. It may be the most overhyped film of the last five years, unworthy of a fraction of the acclaim or even the derision that it’s received.

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JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX ★ (1/4 stars)
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Written by: Scott Silver, Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz
Running time: 138 mins.

Its new sequel, however,........

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